Struggle for Survival or Death Instinct
“To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.”
Life is underpinned by the struggle for survival; but a good life emerges from having a sense of meaning and purpose. In this article, I attempt to look at the war on Gaza by Israel in 2023–24 through the lens of key theories of biology, psychology, economics, and politics by shedding light on Darwin’s “struggle for survival” and Frued’s “death instinct.”.
First, the struggle for existence in the work of Darwin is viewed as a process of natural selection. However, Darwin used the notion of competitive struggle in a metaphorical sense to depict cooperative mutualism, competition, and strategies to cope with harsh environments since there are domains of struggle and dependency between species. In simple words, as Darwin explained, a parasite may depend on a certain host species for their survival and would suffer along with their host. Parasites could perish if they are faced with climactic changes or a food deficit. In essence, the concept of natural selection is intended to reach "equilibrium,” which reflects the symbiosis between species. To transfer this struggle for survival in the Middle East, it seems that the exodus of Jews to Palestine from Europe in the early 20th century is a vivid manifestation of Darwin’s example of the struggle of species, while equilibrium is the long-awaited peaceful solution based on international law and justice.
Second, the Frued theory of life and death drives, described as life instincts, attempted to explain human behavior. In his book "Beyond the Pleasure Principle," Freud concluded that all instincts fall into one of two major classes: life drives and death drives. Freud proposed that the life drive was opposed to a drive for self-interest or ego. The life drive is a manifestation of the antithesis of the self-destructive death instinct. The life drive is focused on the preservation of life. This drive compels people to engage in actions that sustain their own lives. Behaviors commonly associated with life instincts include cooperation and collective action. These behaviors support both individual well-being and the harmonious existence of a cooperative and healthy society. He theorized that humans are driven toward death and destruction, famously declaring that "the aim of all life is death." Freud based this theory on clinical observations, noting that people who experience a traumatic event often recreate it. He observed that the war impacted the soldiers psychologically. Hence, their dreams inspired them to go back to combat. The war on Gaza by Israel was led by thousands of soldiers from all over the globe, i.e., France, the US, and Europe, who were driven by the “instinct of death.”. Paradoxically, thousands of orphan children in Gaza will be driven by the life-and-death drive since the tragic memories of genocide, apartheid, and starvation are likely to bring unbeatable spirits.
Beyond explanations from science, political theory and economics shed light on the commodification of memories and “the unknown knowledge” for hegemony. As the Israeli onslaught of Gaza continues, far beyond any form of “retribution’ for Hamas’ October 7 attacks, there is a hidden agenda related to natural gas that lies off the shores of Israel, i.e., the curse of resources. The Gazan coast has immense potential for energy resources since it contains about 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. This means it could produce about 2.4 billion dollars in royalties and profits for Palestine during its lifetime. This energy factor could shape the geopolitics of the EU-Middle East relationship, considering the impact on the Russia-Ukraine war.
Energy security captures the struggle for survival or death instinct since it underpins socioeconomic development. Competition for energy resources shapes political discourse and alienation since it is viewed as a driving force for hegemony and security. Those in positions of power use their influence to optimize benefits, as manifested in the conflict between the occupier and the occupied Palestinians since 1948. The struggle for survival and death instincts may lead to alienation from one’s fellow humans and from one’s own essence.
Memories become commodities as they represent the fruits of one’s labor. Besides, alienation from one’s fellow humans since the commodification of memories is likely to deepen a sense of loneliness and distrust. Relationships are no longer founded on authentic human connection or shared experience, but on material profit. Alienation from one’s own essence is alarming since people are compelled to sell their most intimate memories to ensure survival, but this in turn results in a fractured sense of identity. In sum, my call is that “freedom seekers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains, and a world of memories to win!”